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Aitamaako tamisskapi Natosi - Before the Sun

Directed by:

Banchi Hanuse

2023

90 minutes

A young Siksika woman, Logan Red Crow, prepares to compete in the Indian Relay, a sport for the brave, where bareback riders vault from horse to horse in short, exhilarating races. Besides skill and sheer grit, she has a loving family, an elite group of horses, and a home on her ancestral lands.

SCREENING

Friday, October 27, 2023 at 4:00 PM

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Aitamaako'tamisskapi Natosi Official Trailer

ABOUT THE FILM

Growing up on her grandfather’s ranch, Logan Red Crow has been around horses as long as she can remember. The Siksika teenager was 15 in her first Indian relay and never looked back. As she prepares to make history by joining the men’s competition on the world’s largest stage at the Calgary Stampede, there’s no hiding from the dangers of North America’s original extreme sport. Racing around the track bareback at full speed is one thing, but it's during the change-up, when riders must jump from one horse to another, that the greater risk appears. 

 

As we follow her, we see Red Crow grow as an athlete and a person, alongside her mother, who has always supported her; her brothers, who help her race; her grandparents, who have shaped her worldview; and her father, who taught her how to raise horses. Together, they draw strength from one another as they chart a new path into the future while honoring their past. (Alexander Rogalski, Hot Docs)

 

Banchi Hanuse's doc takes us to the golden plains of Blackfoot Territory to the home of Logan Red Crow, a young Siksika woman whose passion is the Indian Relay. A sport for the truly brave, the Relay's bareback riders vault from horse to horse in short, exhilarating races. 

 

Gentle and reflective, yet unshakable in her determination, Logan is a champion in the making. Besides her skill and sheer grit, she has a loving family, an elite group of horses, and a home on her ancestral lands. Those are invaluable, but this rider will need more for victory. As Hanuse follows her through one competition after another, we see courage put to the test, and also get a picture of the other factors involved in the sport-including blind circumstance. 

 

Aitamaako'tamisskapi Natosi: Before the Sun offers the dual pleasures of serenity and suspense: we get leisurely, lyrical immersion in rural life as well as the thrill of rooting for victory. Logan's bond with her horses is palpable, and Hanuse shows us her tender interactions with them contrasted with gripping races. The animals are beautiful in their mute strength, and the director honors them with loving, graceful images. The connections explored here are profound and lasting: those between Father and Daughter, animal and human, family and community, ancestral tradition and contemporary life. Graceful, compelling and uplifting, this is an inspirational gem. It offers, through Logan, her horses, her family and her Nation, a portrait of radiant heroism. (Mike Archibald, IMDb)

Aitamaako tamisskapi Natosi - Before the Sun

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ABOUT THE DIRECTOR

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Banchi Hanuse

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Banchi Hanuse is Canadian indigenous director, writer, and producer.  She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in First Nations Studies from the University of British Columbia in Bella Coola. She is an alumna of Werner Herzog’s Roque Film School.

 

Banchi Hanuse is the co-founder and station manager of Nuxalk Radio, launched on the summer solstice 2014, inspired during the 2012 Idle No More resistance movement. Their main aim is to promote the Nuxalkmc* language, along with Nuxalk nationhood and stewardship of Nuxalk homelands, and to provide uplifting programming. Her directorial debut, Cry Rock, won several awards following its premiere at National Geographic’s All Roads Film Festival including the Golden Sheaf Award for Best Documentary Short at Yorkton Film Festival. Her short doc Nuxalk Radio (2020) was the winner of the Vancouver International Film Festival Sea to Sky Award. Hanuse began in the film industry as a camera trainee with IATSE Local 669 and then went on to work at the National Film Board of Canada — Pacific Yukon Centre — as a researcher and associate producer. 

 

Before the Sun won Big Sky Award for Best Film About the American West at Big Sky Documentary Film Festival.  The film also won 5 Leo Awards,  These celebrate British Columbia film, television, web, and streaming media.

CREDITS

Director

Banchi Hanuse


Writers

Banchi Hanuse

Tanya Maryniak (written by)


Producer

Mike Wavrecan


Executive Producers

Carey Newman

Izzy Pullen


Composers

Jason Burnstick

Nadia Burnstick


Cinematographers

Luke Connor

Ben Giesbrecht


Editor

Tanya Maryniak


Production Manager

Sam Graham


Sound Department

Ariana Brophy,Sound

"Zak Cohen, ADR Recording | Dialogue Editor

Tyler Devon Gillis, Sound Designer

Jayme Langen, Sound Effects Editor

David Parfit, Sound Designer

Brenda Sevilla, Sound


Camera and Electrical Department

Joshua Many, Head Assistant Camera

Anthony Stengel, Additional Cinematography

Calvin Stimson, Assistant Camera


Editorial Department

James Chase, Colorist

Somit Sharma, Assistant Editor

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